Interpersonal+Activity

=Connection Train= by Amy Rauen

Purpose
The purpose of Connection Train is for the individuals on a team to learn more about one another by finding out what they have in common, which in turn should improve team relations.

Time Required
The activity should take 10-15 minutes.

Number of Participants
This activity can accomodate any number of people, as the group would be broken into teams. Teams must have a minimum of 2 participants, and a maximum of 30. The ideal number of people on a team would be between 8 and 15.

Supplies Needed
The facilitator needs one postcard for each team. It does not matter what is on the postcard. Each participant needs a pad of large sticky notes and a pen.

Preparation
The facilitator needs to bring the postcards, sticky notes, and pens.

Introduction
Hello! You all work together on the same team, but how well do you each think you know each other? How many similarities between your own life and the lives of your team members can you think of? Today's activity is meant to help you all get to know each other better by finding out what you have in common.

Process
1. Facilitator should break the team into equal-sized groups. The number of groups does not matter, but the activity will work best if each team has between 8 and 15 members. Each group will need an equal-sized working space, such as the length of a wall, or a length of floor space in the room. 2. Facilitator should give one postcard to each group, and one pad of sticky notes and a pen to each participant. The postcard should be placed at one end of the group's working space, such as on the left side of the wall or floor space. 3. When the facilitator says to begin, one person in each group should think of a connection he or she has to the image on the postcard. For example, if the postcard shows a blue house on a farm, a group member might say, "I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin." This group member should jot a quick phrase on a sticky note that describes his connection to the image and his name, such as "raised on farm in WI - Joe", and place the sticky note adjacent to the postcard. A team member who can then make a personal connection to what Joe said, such as "I drove through Wisconsin on a road trip once", would note that connection on his or her sticky note and place that note adjacent to Joe's. The activity should continue on this way until a "connection train" has been created that stretches the full length of the group's working space. 4. The first team to complete a full connection train in which all group members have contributed, "wins". 5. At end of activity, participants should walk around and view the connection trains created by the other groups.

Debrief
1. Did you learn anything about your teammates? 2. Did anything surprise you about any of your teammates? 3. How does it make you feel to now know you have these connections with each other? 4. Do you think knowing these connections will influence how you relate to each other in the future? If so, how?

Credits
Although I wasn't consciously thinking of it when I came up with Connection Train, I think this may have been sparked by the postage stamp game Bernie told us about in one of our early class sessions in which players form connections between stamps.